Certain beverage or food preparation machines use capsules containing ingredients to be extracted or to be dissolved; for other machines, the ingredients are stored and dosed automatically in the machine or else are added at the time of preparation of the drink.
Most coffee machines possess within a housing: filling means that include a pump for liquid, usually water, which pumps the liquid from a source of water that is cold or indeed heated through heating means, such as a heating resistor, a thermoblock or the like.
EP 1 864 598 discloses such a coffee machine that is autonomous and that can be mounted onto a docking station. The beverage machine is arranged to be operable whether connected to the docking station or disconnected therefrom.
EP 1 878 368 discloses a beverage machine having a functional block in a housing that is rotatably mounted on a support base. The support base has a power connector for the beverage machine that allows such rotation. The functional block can be designed to be removable from the support base. The support base may have an extension with a power connector for mounting a milk-frothing apparatus thereon.
FR 2 544 185 discloses an old espresso machine in which a hot water, a steam preparation module and a plurality of different coffee preparation modules may be mechanically and electrically connected side-by-side. The aim is to provide a system with a sufficient number of parallel coffee outlets, as required for the normal use in a bar so as to permit preparation of several espressos simultaneously.
There is still a need to increase the versatility of liquid food or beverage machines.